Wheel.



J. F. EVANS. WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED 0CT.2. 1914.

1,154,497. E PatentedSept. 21, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 2. 1914.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

direction more nearly radial with respect to To all whom it may concern:

UNITE JAMES FRANCIS EVANS, orivmn'rms guae, WEST vmeInIA.

I WHEEL.

Be it known that I, JAMES F; EVANS,'a

citizen of the United States, residing at- Martinsburg, in the county of Berkeley and State of Vest Virginia, have invented-new and useful Improvements .in Wheels, of which the following a specification;

This invention relates to pneumatic Wheels, the object in view being to produce a wheel which in itself forms the air cham -n ber of a pneumatic tire, thereby dispensing with the necessity of using the ordinary fragile inner tube and at the same time providing for an air chamber-of much greater capacity and one which will eliminate the objectionable rapid travel of air in an annular path and enable said air to move in a the center of the wheel, the result being that the tire is kept me cooler condition and the life and durability thereof proportionately increased.

"A further object of the invention is to ,pro-

- duce a wheel in which the opposite sides thereof are formed of metal disks or plates so associated with the hub of the wheel as to provide an air tight chamber which is in communication with the inner. face of the tire, the latter being supported solely by the body of air contained within the wheel and between the side plates or disks of the latter. A further object of the invention is to provide a novel construction of'tire body in its relation to the side plates or disks form,- ing the body ofthe wheel also practical and reliable means for effecting a tight joint at all points between the margins of the tire and the peripheral portions of the wheel.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists In the novel construction; combination and arrangement of parts.

as herein described. illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheel .en'ibodying thepresent invention. Fig. 2 :is an enlarged diametric'al section through the hub and one half of the wheel. Fig. 3 IS an enlarged de-:

clamping bands. Fig t) is a fragmentary view showing the-overlap nng end portions of one of the tire retaining hoops. Fig: 6is' a detail perspective-view of the interlocking end portions of one of the clamping bands. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross section taken on the same line as Fig. 2, showing oneof the flexible joint'forming. rings.-

Referring to tlie'diawings A, generally designates the hub of the vehicle wheel of this invention, B the body of the wheel, C the tire holding rim and D the tire.

In carrying out the present invention, the hub A is constructed in such a manner as to Specification of Letters Patent. Paijented Sept, 21 1915. Application filed October 2, 1914. Serial m5; 864,653.

provide shoulders 1 against which a pair of oppositely located side plates or disks 2,

so as to form an intervening air chambers of materially greater cubical contents than the ordinary innertube of the present day pneumatic tire. The plates? are connected at suitable points by. means of ties 5 shown 'in the form of wires extending obliquely and crossing each other diagonally as shown in Fig.2, said ties serving to relatively brace the side plates or. disks 2 and prevent the same from spreading under the expanding action of the tire D. The plates in the preferred embodiment of the invehtion, are further provided upon their outer sides with reinforcing ribs 6 forming in effect spokes for the wheel. the outer extremities ofqsaid ribs being preferably expanded as shown at 7 to provide increased strength along the peripheral portion of said side plates or disks. a l

,The disks or plates 2 are fornied in their peripheries with annular channels...8 designed to receive the i'narginal beads 9 with which the tire D is provided as best illustrated in Fig. 2, the said beads 9 being of such shape and size as to fit snugly within .the channels 8 and outside of the inside walls 10 which define said channels. I

The side walls 11 ofthe tire are'relatively thin as compared with the tread 12 of the tire. The thick treadjresists' and prat'vtically prevents punctures and, blow outswhile the relatively thin side walls permit the tire .to flex easily and expand laterally .away from each other thus preventing any chafing or cutting action between the s dewalls of the tll'c and the inner walls 10 of the channeled peripheral portions of the side plates or disks. 7

i In order to lirmly fasten the heads 9 of the tire to the rim portion of the wheel, I employ in connection with each bead 9 and channel 8, a split or dixided hoop 13 the end portions of which are overlapped as shown in Fig.7. As shown, each of said hoops has its marginal edges recurved to form U-shaped' flanges 14. beneath which the opposite extremity of the hoop is adapted to slide as shown in said figure. These recurved flanges H are not, however, essentlal, it only being requisite that the end portions of the hoops overlap as shown and described. Outside of and encircling each of said tire holding-or retaining hoops is a clamping band 15 which is also split or divided as illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 6, the extremities of the bandbeing provided with interlocking projections or lips 16 and 17 and not'ches 18 and 19. The projection 16 has a beveled face 19' which is adapted to slide upwardly on the beveled extremity or face 20 of the other end of the band as clearly shown in Fig. 4, the part 16 being connected to one extremity of the band 15 by means of arelatively narrow neck 21' which is received in agroove or recess 22 in the projection 17. j

In order to bring the extremities of each clamping band i-nto interlocked engagement, any suitable tool may be provided such as that shown, for example, in Fig. 4 in which said tool is shown as-comprising a pair of jaws 23 pivotally connected together at 24- and having hooked extremities 25 receivable in corresponding recesses or notches 26in the end portions of the clamping bands. The arms 23 are provided with openings 27 p to receive a bolt 28 in connection with which nuts 29 are employed which bear against the outer sides of the jaws 23 for the purpose of drawing the jaws I toward each other and thereby effecting an interlocked engagement between the extremities of the bands. The toolm'ay comprise two sets of jaws 23 so as to operate simultaneously-on the two clamping bands at opposite sidescof the tire thus enabling both bands to be adjusted in a single operation.

When the retalning orholding hoops 13 are intheir proper. place and the clamping bands 15 have been drawn tightly around said hoops, the beads 9 aretightly compressed in the channels of the run portion of the wheel so as to form an air tight joint and prevent leakage of air between the tire and body of the wheel. In order to .still further insure an air tight joint along the points of contact of the tire and wheel rim, additional joint forming rings 30 may. be

placed in the bottoms of the channels 8 as shown in Fig. 7, said rings 30 being formed meshing corrugations will be tightly compressed together thereby forming a practical air tight joint.

33 designates an inflating valve for admitting air under pressure to the airchamber 4 of the wheel for the purpose of holding out or distending the tire sufiiciently to enable the same to support the requisite load.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it .will now be seen that I do away entirely with an inflatable inner tube and the troubles incident to the use thereof. In lieu of said tube, the wheel itself forms the air chamber for the tire D and in view of the extent and capacity of the air chamber thus formed, the

air 1s compressed in a substantially radial direction when the tire is subjected to its load and the ordinary road shocks not only is a greater volume of air thus obtained but the an is prevented from being forced rapidly around the ordinary annular channel formed by the inner tube and therefore the air is kept comparatively cool, the tire being kept proportionately cool and thereby adding to its life and durability. While the air chamber is shown as extending from the pcripheral portion of the wheel to a point close to the hub-A, it will of course be apparent that the inner portion of said air chamber may be filled in solidly or the air chamber partitioned off so that only the outer portion thereof will form an effective air chamber.

Changes such as that just referred to may be made according to the use to which the wheel is to be put and other changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without de parting from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

hat I clalm 1s:

1. Ina vehicle wheel, a hollow wheel body with interlocking shoulders at its extremities. f

2. A vehiclewheel having annular channels. flexible joint forming rings in airtight engagement with the bottoms of'said channels' in the outer periphery thereof, a flexible tire having marginal annular beads fitting nels.

into said channels. and tire holding hoops. hoops being divided and having its end por-' lo encircling said beads'an'd lying in said ch'an tions in overlapping relation to each other,

. f and clamping bands encircling said hoops. 3. A vehicle Wheel provided with annular In testimony Whereof'I aflix my signature channels in the outer periphery thereof, in in presence of two Witnesses.

combination With a flexible tire having mar- JAMES. vFRANCIS EVANS.

ginal annular beads fitting into said chan- Witnesses: 7 nels, tire holding hoops encircling said beads HERMAN .A; EVANS, and lying in said channels, each of said SAMUEL W, STANLEY.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained-for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, *1

Washington, I). c." i 

